As a Carolinian I can't help feeling left out when I look at their proposed map. Even if this is just fiction at this point, I would be interested in hearing their reason for completely bypassing both Carolinas.
This is the thing not accounted for in Hyperloop cost projection. It's comparing the whole cost of HSR with the system cost of Hyperloop. The bunch of HSR's cost is right-of-way and land acquisition, that requires a long and costly process that isn't going to disappear because of new technology. These costs should be accounted for in any Hyperloop cost estimate. Hyperloop isn't going to magically terminate any right-of-way and land problem. Especially in dense, urban environments. DTX, the rail tunnel access to Transbay terminal has an estimate cost of $2.5 billion for 1.3 miles. Getting to downtown SF via tunnel is gonna be super expensive for Hyperloop as well.
It's also a bit odd to me that it visits Columbus and Detroit but skips Cleveland (though that is more debatable choice than skipping SC and NC altogether).
Being in North Dakota, I'm not very amused either.
I do believe someone who expects to build a tube with no stops across a whole state is going to learn a bit about politics.